Former FTX executives Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang reached a settlement with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over their roles in the exchange’s 2022 collapse, avoiding financial penalties due to their cooperation in the investigation.
The CFTC imposed a five-year trading ban on Ellison and an eight-year registration prohibition on Wang, alongside a five-year trading ban for Ellison. Both executives avoided fines and the return of illegal profits as part of the settlement. Ellison was previously sentenced to two years in prison in 2024 after pleading guilty to fraud charges related to the exchange’s collapse.
The settlement follows broader legal fallout from FTX’s bankruptcy, which prosecutors described as a multi-year fraud that misappropriated billions of dollars from customers, investors, and lenders. FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence after his conviction earlier this year.
Nishad Singh, former FTX engineering chief, was separately ordered in April to return $3.7 million in illegal profits and face a temporary registration and trading ban, according to CFTC filings. The agency emphasized the value of cooperation in securing the settlements, with CFTC Enforcement Director David Miller stating that robust cooperation remains a priority for the division.
